First of all Happy New Year to the both of you. Great blog on Lough Erne and many points you " Hit the nail on the head " There where more pubs and eating places years ago (80´s, 90´s) when I lived there that where directly on the shoreline especially Lower Lough Erne. It´s a shame but it can be a short season and unless well established difficult for places to survive in the winter season. Who knows after this blog 2019 might see a fleet of boats coming up from the south. I always thought it was one of the best kept secrets in the whole of Ireland. Having been on the Shannon system a few times in the summer season. Memories of packed moorings (so view places to stay as all moorings full ) with boats 3 deep and people climbing over your boat deck drunk in the middle of the night and on more than one occasion too. Never had that problem" EVER" on the Erne system with loads of places to stay and from towns to beautiful islands for those wanting a quiet location for the night. MILK Problem...... I Will be writing to the Irish Tourist Board straight away about this as it is a disgrace that there are not more cows on the Islands.......!!! Joke.. Yes UHT required for that Cuppa Tea when island hopping. Have been saying for years now to all my customers here in Germany that if boating give Lough Erne system a go as they will not be disappointed. Ok then take care you two and looking forward to seeing the Driftwood Blog in 2019. Maybe bump into you again. I will be back home and boating for a few days in June can´t wait..... Cheers Simon (Germany)
And a Happy New Year to you too Simon and to your family! You're right there should be a friendly milking cow on every island! Yes I do wish Waterways Ireland would put in loads of quiet moorings all along the Shannon. That alone would ease the congestion you can get at popular moorings like Dromod, Terryglass and a few other busy spots. We plan to head to Limerick in the spring and make our way slowly back up river. So there should be plenty move videos to come. Thanks for your comment and fair winds. H&M
I finally managed ro rent a boat and spent four lovely days mostly on Lower Lough Erne. Had only minor problems on occasion docking as a newbie. Agree with you about the beautiful little islands and did take your advice about stocking up with food. Loved the privacy and solitude of the lake. Overnighted at Inish Daver and Devenish both sides. Peaceful and truly lovely. Weather was not perfect but still a very pleasant experience. Rented a boat from ManorMarine - beautiful, comfortable and well equipped although compass was a bit dodgy and might have been useful if I'd ventured further out on the broad part of the lough. Over four days though the boat needed no water, pump out, electricty or diesel so you really could disappear for awhile if you wished - which we did. Ventured up past the red line to the broad part of the lough and really did experience sea like conditions with heavy waves coming from the side - moderately scary. Castle Archdale was the only place I couldnt get into. There was one very tight mooring available but too many water bicycles and kids in canoes milling all around me to make it safe to try and get in - so I'll have to return. Went up the lovely narrow river to Kesh which I enjoyed doing but Kesh is not a place you'd be interested in spending any time in. I liked the red/white markers - very easy to understand - although I havent experienced the red/green Shannon indicators - the red/white seems to make more intuitive sense. It was my first boating holiday but definitely won't be my last. Favourite bits - the utter peace and waking at dawn on Devenish and getting some wonderful pictures.
That's a great success story Frank. I'm really glad that you had a good time. It really is one of the few holidays you can still enjoy in poor weather. H&M
Hi guys. I boat on Lough erne and you got it spot on. If you moor at the Lough erne resort jetty you can ring hotel and they will send transport. Saves a trek on a wet day. Manor house has a nine hole golf course and tennis courts and pitch and putt course.
Hello To you both. Harry a narrow boat is a maximum of 6'x 10" wide, any wider than that up to a maximum of 13'x10" are called wide beam canal boats. A barge is a commercial boat that was used on the canals and river for moving goods. Then you have a Butty, which did not have an engine and was towed behind the barge and could double the pay load. I've been dying to tell some body that for 30years! Cheers John
Great Video and very informative. My wife, daughter and myself had our first boating experience last year in September and it was just wonderful. We only cruised down the Shannon river, but this year in September we're coming back for more - this time we will explore Lough Erne! :-) Thank you for all those great videos! Greetings from Germany!
On the Shannon Waterways Ireland only seem to put mooring at towns. It's a great pity that they don't put them at islands or any isolated locations. They work really well on the Erne.
I like your bolgs Now planning starting from Killadeas Manor Marine in october 2020. How far is erasonable to cruise and return in 12 days ? Happy cruisings Harry and Marion
Hi I am looking at a live aboard and your blog has been very informative just makes me want to do it quicker. Just wondering if you have any info on lough allen, I dont see it in any of your blogs. Keep safe Thanks
Hi Brian, Ye I love to live on board full-time as well, maybe one day. We hope to cover Lough Allen later this year (if and when we can get back to our boat!) It's a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains, only has two ports and no town at either port. It can be a lonely place. H&M
Hi, probably a long shot but would you have any other footage or pictures of Quivvy Marina? I spent a lot of my childhood there with my Grandfather and I was not able to see his boat in the picture in the video
just came back from a cruise on lough erne, wonderful if you like looking at reeds. we started at ballinaleck first day up to devenish, lovely place to moor, (facilities are non existent ) next morning on to enniskillen, place comlng down with tourists crashing into each other, no mooring places left. on to castle archdale, got a mooring no problem. lovely meal in the pilots nook, (was an raf base during the war, sunderlands and catalinas flew from here seekin nazi uboats) anyway basically there is fekk all to do but look at reeds, a father ted simile here on this stretch of the river . you got kids? prepare for a nervous breakdown.
Hi folks , great video , I lived on the Canal in England for a few years on a cruiser but always wanted to boat on L Erne, I bought an 18 ft fishing dinghy to tow around but the cost of the ferry towing it with my pick up truck is prohibitive , could you recommend a Marina that would hire boats on upper L Erne ? I dont need anything fancy , just me and my dog .A dry bed and a cooker and I am sorted .
Hi Bryn, Most of th eboat hire companies are quite upmarket and not cheap. So what I'd recommend is that you try to hire a boat privately. Check adds from private boat owners in adverts.ie, donedeal.ie or gumtree.co.uk. If you get a boat anywhere on the northern end of the River Shannon you're only a few days boating cruise away from Lough Erne. Hope that of some help to you. Happy boating 👍
Hi, yes we did indeed. We took a walk around it and it seemed very peaceful. We didn't go up and knock on the door but we didn't see anyone about either. I was later told that Sunday is the best day to visit. Great place though 👍
Driftwood Boat Blog just discovered your blog. Keep up the good work and heartfield greetings from Bangor Co. Down.I know Bigfoot and did you meet Drew and May at Quivvy?
Glad you're enjoying the blog, we lived in Bangor for a few years (Westbourne Cres). Yes, we did meet Drew, a very helpful man indeed. He gave us some good advice when we were going up to the Ulster Canal. 👍
First of all Happy New Year to the both of you.
Great blog on Lough Erne and many points you " Hit the nail on the head " There where more pubs and eating places years ago (80´s, 90´s) when I lived there that where directly on the shoreline especially Lower Lough Erne. It´s a shame but it can be a short season and unless well established difficult for places to survive in the winter season. Who knows after this blog 2019 might see a fleet of boats coming up from the south. I always thought it was one of the best kept secrets in the whole of Ireland.
Having been on the Shannon system a few times in the summer season. Memories of packed moorings (so view places to stay as all moorings full ) with boats 3 deep and people climbing over your boat deck drunk in the middle of the night and on more than one occasion too. Never had that problem" EVER" on the Erne system with loads of places to stay and from towns to beautiful islands for those wanting a quiet location for the night.
MILK Problem...... I Will be writing to the Irish Tourist Board straight away about this as it is a disgrace that there are not more cows on the Islands.......!!! Joke..
Yes UHT required for that Cuppa Tea when island hopping.
Have been saying for years now to all my customers here in Germany that if boating give Lough Erne system a go as they will not be disappointed.
Ok then take care you two and looking forward to seeing the Driftwood Blog in 2019.
Maybe bump into you again. I will be back home and boating for a few days in June can´t wait.....
Cheers Simon (Germany)
And a Happy New Year to you too Simon and to your family! You're right there should be a friendly milking cow on every island! Yes I do wish Waterways Ireland would put in loads of quiet moorings all along the Shannon. That alone would ease the congestion you can get at popular moorings like Dromod, Terryglass and a few other busy spots. We plan to head to Limerick in the spring and make our way slowly back up river. So there should be plenty move videos to come. Thanks for your comment and fair winds.
H&M
A tip: you can watch series on InstaFlixxer. Me and my gf have been using it for watching lots of of movies recently.
Extremely interesting and informative guys. Fair play to you both making all these videos really appreciate your efforts 👍
Thanks Philip, so long as people like you watch the videos, we'll keep making to 😃👍
I finally managed ro rent a boat and spent four lovely days mostly on Lower Lough Erne. Had only minor problems on occasion docking as a newbie. Agree with you about the beautiful little islands and did take your advice about stocking up with food. Loved the privacy and solitude of the lake. Overnighted at Inish Daver and Devenish both sides. Peaceful and truly lovely. Weather was not perfect but still a very pleasant experience. Rented a boat from ManorMarine - beautiful, comfortable and well equipped although compass was a bit dodgy and might have been useful if I'd ventured further out on the broad part of the lough. Over four days though the boat needed no water, pump out, electricty or diesel so you really could disappear for awhile if you wished - which we did. Ventured up past the red line to the broad part of the lough and really did experience sea like conditions with heavy waves coming from the side - moderately scary. Castle Archdale was the only place I couldnt get into. There was one very tight mooring available but too many water bicycles and kids in canoes milling all around me to make it safe to try and get in - so I'll have to return. Went up the lovely narrow river to Kesh which I enjoyed doing but Kesh is not a place you'd be interested in spending any time in. I liked the red/white markers - very easy to understand - although I havent experienced the red/green Shannon indicators - the red/white seems to make more intuitive sense. It was my first boating holiday but definitely won't be my last. Favourite bits - the utter peace and waking at dawn on Devenish and getting some wonderful pictures.
That's a great success story Frank. I'm really glad that you had a good time. It really is one of the few holidays you can still enjoy in poor weather. H&M
Hi guys. I boat on Lough erne and you got it spot on. If you moor at the Lough erne resort jetty you can ring hotel and they will send transport. Saves a trek on a wet day. Manor house has a nine hole golf course and tennis courts and pitch and putt course.
Enjoy watching your blog and learning from you. I'm new to boating and the Shannon we live in NY but have a apartment and small boat in Ballyleague.
Hi Kevin and glad you enjoy the videos. Big change from NY to Ballyleague! hope you get plenty opportunities to enjoy your boat on the Shannon.
H&M
Hello To you both. Harry a narrow boat is a maximum of 6'x 10" wide, any wider than that up to a maximum of 13'x10" are called wide beam canal boats. A barge is a commercial boat that was used on the canals and river for moving goods. Then you have a Butty, which did not have an engine and was towed behind the barge and could double the pay load. I've been dying to tell some body that for 30years! Cheers John
No one would ever guess that you were dying to tell somebody that!!!
Great Video and very informative. My wife, daughter and myself had our first boating experience last year in September and it was just wonderful. We only cruised down the Shannon river, but this year in September we're coming back for more - this time we will explore Lough Erne! :-) Thank you for all those great videos!
Greetings from Germany!
Thanks Taragashi, glad you enjoy the videos and I'm sure you'll have a great holiday on Lough Erne. 👍
Lots of info folks. 👍🏻 Do ye know why there are no island moorings on the Shannon or associated lakes, like they have on Lough Erne?
On the Shannon Waterways Ireland only seem to put mooring at towns. It's a great pity that they don't put them at islands or any isolated locations. They work really well on the Erne.
Please let each other speak please stop butting in on each other love your vids by the way 👏
I like your bolgs
Now planning starting from Killadeas Manor Marine in october 2020. How far is erasonable to cruise and return in 12 days ? Happy cruisings Harry and Marion
Hi I am looking at a live aboard and your blog has been very informative just makes me want to do it quicker.
Just wondering if you have any info on lough allen, I dont see it in any of your blogs.
Keep safe
Thanks
Hi Brian, Ye I love to live on board full-time as well, maybe one day. We hope to cover Lough Allen later this year (if and when we can get back to our boat!) It's a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains, only has two ports and no town at either port. It can be a lonely place.
H&M
Hi, probably a long shot but would you have any other footage or pictures of Quivvy Marina? I spent a lot of my childhood there with my Grandfather and I was not able to see his boat in the picture in the video
Hi, I'm sorry but you're out of luck. But, can remember the name of your Grandfather's boat? I might have crossed paths with it somewhere.
just came back from a cruise on lough erne, wonderful if you like looking at reeds. we started at ballinaleck first day up to devenish, lovely place to moor, (facilities are non existent ) next morning on to enniskillen, place comlng down with tourists crashing into each other, no mooring places left. on to castle archdale, got a mooring no problem. lovely meal in the pilots nook, (was an raf base during the war, sunderlands and catalinas flew from here seekin nazi uboats) anyway basically there is fekk all to do but look at reeds, a father ted simile here on this stretch of the river . you got kids? prepare for a nervous breakdown.
Not everyone is cut out for a boating holiday. Perhaps you should try Benidorm next year.
Hi folks , great video , I lived on the Canal in England for a few years on a cruiser but always wanted to boat on L Erne, I bought an 18 ft fishing dinghy to tow around but the cost of the ferry towing it with my pick up truck is prohibitive , could you recommend a Marina that would hire boats on upper L Erne ? I dont need anything fancy , just me and my dog .A dry bed and a cooker and I am sorted .
Hi Bryn, Most of th eboat hire companies are quite upmarket and not cheap. So what I'd recommend is that you try to hire a boat privately. Check adds from private boat owners in adverts.ie, donedeal.ie or gumtree.co.uk. If you get a boat anywhere on the northern end of the River Shannon you're only a few days boating cruise away from Lough Erne. Hope that of some help to you. Happy boating 👍
Carrybridge boat company hire cruisers also family run company
Thanks for that I'll link them in the description.
Did you visit Hare Krishna island they make you very welcome.
Hi, yes we did indeed. We took a walk around it and it seemed very peaceful. We didn't go up and knock on the door but we didn't see anyone about either. I was later told that Sunday is the best day to visit. Great place though 👍
Driftwood Boat Blog just discovered your blog. Keep up the good work and heartfield greetings from Bangor Co. Down.I know Bigfoot and did you meet Drew and May at Quivvy?
Glad you're enjoying the blog, we lived in Bangor for a few years (Westbourne Cres). Yes, we did meet Drew, a very helpful man indeed. He gave us some good advice when we were going up to the Ulster Canal. 👍